Hong Kong Interior Design Tips & Ideas | Clifton Leung

Monday, April 24, 2017

“My inspirations were yummy food and home cooking, the brand’s core values of quality, performance and practical innovation and the brand’s image as ‘visionary, refined, stylish, metropolitan living’, and ‘invented for life’.” The design has perfectly captured the appliance brand’s personality in this warm, friendly space. While Clifton had to follow a design guideline issued by Bosch in Germany, specifying the centre sphere as the kitchen, a middle sphere for free-standing feature displays and an outer sphere for built-in product displays, he was able to develop the layout from this taking into consideration the shape and features of the site. Perhaps the biggest challenge he faced was working in a shell surrounded by ceiling-to-floor windows which limited the space available for storage and product displays. “Big windows mean there’s no space to display things. There’s not so much wall space.” To solve this problem he created three framed boxes that sit in front of the windows. They are spaced out to let natural light come in, while directing the customer’s attention to the appliances via the wooden frames around the boxes. A structural column in the middle of the site also had to be worked around – this challenge was solved by converting it into a round centrepiece incorporating display shelving and storage space.

Wednesday, March 8, 2017

With the Hong Kong Arts Month coming up, events like Art Basel and Art Central are set to land in the city. Art lovers, are you inspired to add an aesthetic touch to your living space? Displays of art and favourite photos can help make a house feel more like a home. When living space is tight though, and walls are few you’ll want to be judicious about how it’s hanging.

If you’re a fan of contemporary art works, we suggest a minimalist décor so you can let your art piece take centre stage and be the conversation starter.

Choosing which part of the house to put your art work is important too. This clean and simple design allows Andy Warhol's Campbell's Soup Cans, one of the most famous pop art pieces in history, to shine. Choosing which part of the house to put your art work is important too. Here, Clifton cheekily placed the ‘soup cans’ in the kitchen, so that not only are your olfactory and gustatory senses tantalised, you can also have a feast for the eyes. For a more cohesive design, pick a colour from the art piece and add it to a piece of furniture. Here, the bar table features a whimsical pinkish red shade inspired by the bright and lively reds and pinks in the art work.

If your kitchen has dark tones and a minimalist design, liven it up with a colourful painting like this one. Despite having a traditional theme, the painting is modern and bright, with lots of colour, strokes and movement.

If you have a complex art piece like this one—the Aboriginal painting by Gloria Petyarre, we recommend keeping the layout open and furniture simple. Here, the sophisticated lines and movements of the art work can come through and not become too overbearing.

The entrance area of your home is perfect for an art piece, which gives you and your guests a perk-me-up every time you walk into your living space. Complemented by only a small shelf designed by Clifton and a statement lamp from Flos, this atmospheric painting by Paul Kenton is allowed to shine and get you thinking. Inspired by the wing of a stealth fighter jet, the shelf is contemporary, matches the travel theme of the art work, and provides a convenient pick-up/drop-off place for small items.

If you’re a fan of the classics and traditional art pieces, it’s important to make sure your décor goes with them, even their frames.

Here, the delicate flowers in the Chinese painting are brought out by displays with a Chinese theme, such as floral and bamboo displays, vases and an intricately designed tea set. Meanwhile, the wooden frame of the painting is complemented by the brown colour scheme of the furniture and flooring.

Similarly, the traditional paintings here—including the framed painting and scroll—are incorporated into the living space with a Chinese-themed design, featuring shades of brown and Oriental ornaments, including tea pots, vases and a wooden screen.

If you don’t want your art pieces to be too conspicuous and in-your-face, make sure they are complemented by your room’s décor.

If your art pieces are three-dimensional like figurines and ornaments, consider having a display shelf to showcase them. Here, a display shelf is designed to conceal a storage unit—perfect for space-starved Hong Kong apartments! With a light at the back of the display shelf, your experience of viewing your art pieces is enhanced. Here’s a tip, if you have a diverse range of art works, arrange them according to different themes. For example, here, the architectural pieces are put together here on the second compartment from the top and works by famous Taiwanese sculptor Ju Ming are grouped together in the middle compartment.

Saturday, February 11, 2017

“Would
my cat knock this display over or get injured with this furnishing?”

Creating
a home for design-conscious kitty owners is always a tough task, but that
doesn’t mean you have to sacrifice your apartment’s interiors for your furry
friend.

The
key to having a style meets functionality apartment for you and your feline
friend in this cosmopolitan city is to go with a minimalist design that still comes
with iconic features.

In
coming up with the design for this apartment in High Street, Clifton drew
inspiration from Japanese minimalism and colonial grandeur through the use of a
simple palette of earth colours such as white, light brown, grey and light
blue, and New York-inspired design features such as white brick walls and
industrial lighting. Not only is the simple and cosy look cat-friendly, it also
makes the apartment more spacious, while the apartment’s sleekness caters to
the design-conscious young owners.

With
a focus on strong construction details, one of the highlights of the apartment
is a curved brick wall that comes with textured appearance. To achieve that,
Clifton skipped the plastering process to give the home a more rustic and
natural look. Not only is the curved wall aesthetically intriguing, the
designer also took into consideration the aspect of safety for the young
couple’s cat and future children.

To
cat-proof the apartment, the furniture used are of appropriate height for the
cat to jump off, such as the TV cabinet in the living room, which also doubles
up as a “runway” for the beloved pet to “catwalk”. The furniture used is also
made for simple cleaning, including the sofa made of cloth. The flooring is
made of engineered wood, which, unlike solid hardwood, is made of several wood
layers that are fused together under heat and pressure. Finished with Osmo Oil
and its vegetable oil-based finishes, which are eco-conscious and
internationally certified safe product, the flooring is durable and versatile,
especially for pet owners.

Again,
we see the white brick feature wall used in the study-cum-master bedroom, which
is contrasted with a black study table and shelf. An especially unique feature
of the feature wall is how it is a textured portion is blended with a brick
wall section in an effortless rustic manner. Not only is this striking, it also gives a
touch of grandeur, reminiscent of the black and white colonial bungalows in
tropical climate colonies. The apartment’s cat is also not forgotten in the
aesthetics of the design with the thoughtful touch of putting a cat sticker on
the door near the knob.

The
classic white brick wall is also extended to the washroom, bringing a cohesive
throughout the apartment. The use of many mirrors and mirror cabinets create an
illusion of infinite space, opening up the small bathroom area. A frosted glass
panel is also embedded in the wall separating the bathroom and kitchen, which
helps to bring in the natural light from the kitchen while maintaining the
privacy of the occupants.

A
simple Japanese design is used in the guest bedroom, which is not only soothing
and easy on the eye, but also chic and feline-friendly with it being
clutter-free and round edges used. The guest bedroom is intended to be a place
for the couple’s parents to stay in when they come to visit. As such, unlike
the rest of the apartment, there is more use of wood and a light brown shade,
which creates an inviting and warm atmosphere for them.

A
tiled wall, inspired by vintage British glossy tiles that are put together in a
simple and stunning design, is the highlight of the kitchen. To complement the
feature wall, minimalist grey storage units are used along with backlights,
which make the kitchen feel cosy and seem bigger. Another space-saving feature
is a table that is simple white dining table that can be hidden when it is not
in use. Wheels are also attached to the table, which makes it mobile, giving
more flexibility for the couple to move it around when needed.